вЂњThe Puritans said, вЂItвЂ™s completely acceptable that this ecclesiastical structure is above us, but weвЂ™re going to operate as a congregation in this biblical way,вЂ™вЂќ says Vicki Oman, associate director of group participation and learning at the historic Plimouth Plantation. The biggest difference between the Separatists and the Puritans is that the Puritans believed they could live out the congregational way in their local churches without abandoning the larger Church of England. As an organizing principle, congregational churches are bound together by a вЂњcovenantвЂќ and make decisions democratically, including the selection of religious leaders. Sabbath worship doesnвЂ™t include sermons and preaching, but extemporaneous вЂњtestifyingвЂќ by the Holy Spirit. In a congregational church, there is no prayer book, no formal creeds or belief statements, and the head of the church isnвЂ™t a Pope or the King, but Jesus Christ as revealed in the scriptures. Sometimes called non-separating Puritans, this less radical group shared a lot in common with the Separatists, particularly a form of worship and self-organization called вЂњthe congregational way.вЂќ So who, then, were the Puritans? While the Separatists believed that the only way to live according to Biblical precepts was to leave the Church of England entirely, the Puritans thought they could reform the church from within. With the help of the native Wampanoag people, the Pilgrims learned to fish and farm their new lands, resulting in the famous feast of Thanksgiving attended by natives and new arrivals in 1621.ДЎ0 Times America Helped Overthrow a Foreign Government

Roughly half of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower died that first winter from starvation, exposure and disease. The Pilgrims, led by Bradford, arrived in New England in December. READ MORE: Colonists at the First Thanksgiving Were Mostly Men Because the Women Had Perished

Before 1800, the Separatists who landed at Plymouth Rock were known as the вЂњfirst-comersвЂќ or вЂњforefathers.вЂќ The first usage of capital-P вЂњPilgrimвЂќ appeared around 1800, when a group of citizens in Plymouth proposed the creation of a Pilgrim Society to organize the annual celebration of the founding of the Plymouth Colony in 1620. вЂњSo they left that goodly and pleasant city which had been their resting place near twelve years but they knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lift up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits.вЂќД¬urtin points out that Bradford didnвЂ™t name his community вЂњPilgrims,вЂќ and wouldnвЂ™t have heard the term in his lifetime.

Were the pilgrims puritans